page_title: Willits, California
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Willits, California / Culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Mendocino County Museum in Willits, California
context_page_description: Willits is a city in Mendocino County, California, United States. Willits is located 20 miles north-northwest of Ukiah, at an elevation of 1391 feet. The population was 4,888 at the 2010 census, down from 5,073 at the 2000 census. Willits is at the center of Mendocino County and at the beginning of the county's extensive redwood forests as approached by Highway 101 from the south.
  An arch donated to the city by Reno, Nevada in 1995 stands in the center of town. The Arch is the repurposed second version of the Reno Arch, from which the City of Willits removed most of the original plastic panels and of which it replaced the star with the flag of the United States and the slogan of Reno with its own slogans "Gateway to the Redwoods" and "Heart of Mendocino County".
  The Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California is headquartered just west of Willits.
context_section_description: Willits High School is located on the north end of Willits. The North County Center of Mendocino College is also in Willits.
  Every July, Willits hosts the Frontier Days & Rodeo, the oldest continuous rodeo and Independence Day celebration in California. It is also home to the Roots of Motive Power Locomotive Museum, the Mendocino County Museum, and Willits Center for the Arts.
  Some notable names from Willits include Sylvia Friend, labor leader and environmental activist, who fought to save the Redwoods. Over 1,000 people attended her Willits funeral in 1997. Tré Cool, drummer for Green Day, lived in Willits during his teen years in the 1980s. Mona Gnader, the bass player for Sammy Hagar also resided in Willits. Stagecoach bandit Charles Bolles (a.k.a. Black Bart) stole multiple Wells Fargo boxes and mail from stagecoaches traveling through Willits. Technical death metal bands Embryonic Devourment  & Hellusinit  also come from Willits.
  The first National Basketball Association player to ever play prep basketball in the Redwood Empire Area (coastal Northern California & coastal Southern Oregon) Phil Jordon, did so while at Willits High School.
  Willits is also home to classical guitar luthier Gregory Byers.
caption: Mendocino County Museum in Willits
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